All language subtitles for watchable-bereavementunrateddc-1080p_track6_eng

My name is Steve Mena.

I'm the writer, producer, and
director of this film "Bereavement."

This is actually a prequel to a film I did
quite a few years ago called "Malevolence."”

That film was more in the slasher
style of horror film making, whereas,

this is much more of an exploration
of the psychology behind a serial killer,

what makes somebody a serial killer and the
origins of that kind of madness and evil.

What you're looking at here is the
same set we used for "Malevolence."

It took quite a bit of work to
get it hospitable to the point

where I could actually have
actors go inside and work.

It's a place that's kind of been
overwhelmed by the elements over the years.

It's been dormant for I
guess about 30, 35 years now.

This Sutter truck was rebuilt
from the ground by Tom Bambard,

who's one of the
co-producers in the film.

The whole purpose
of this sequence...

This originally
wasn't in the film,

and this was filmed later on after we
had wrapped principal photography.

The purpose of this was not only to
establish where the slaughterhouse

is situated, and where he's traveling
from, but also to establish a sense

of distance between where Sutter's
place is and where he gets his victims.

The idea is to show

that he's traveling a great distance
in order to acquire his victims.

He's not kidnapping them from
around the corner from his house,

or within his hometown.

The other purpose of this was to
show that the kidnapping of Martin

was completely random.

He did not have this kid in
mind when he grabbed him.

It was just that Martin was in the wrong
place at the wrong time and he spotted him.

The reason I wanted to make sure to convey
that point was because of Martin's disease.

Sutter has this notion when
he was growing up and working

in the slaughterhouse for his father
it was something he was forced to do.

It was the originating genesis behind
his psychosis, and his anger and his guilt,

which is what thrusts
him into this life of trying

to assuage that guilt
through sacrificial murder.

One of the things his father would tell
him was that the animals had no feelings,

so you shouldn't
feel bad killing them.

I'm sure we've all heard
adults say that in our lives,

or make that reference about
animals not having feelings.

We've all heard that before.

Anyway, Sutter took it
to heart and believed it.

He's a very sheltered
person, sheltered child.

When he kidnaps Martin,
and Martin doesn't feel any pain

it kind of perpetuates
and exacerbates this.

"Exacerbates"”, that sounds like
another word that's a naughty word.

Anyway, it kind of exacerbates
this notion that his father was right,

and that these people
aren't feeling pain.

So it's kind of a
convoluted subject.

I wanted to make the point
clear that it was just serendipitous

that he happened to get this
particular kid with this disease.

And what amplifies that danger more
is that because Martin can't feel pain

he can't empathize with
his victims, Sutter's victims.

He also can't understand the consequences
of their actions coming from such

a young age, and, of course, being
indoctrinated into this horrific scenario.

So this also was an alternate
beginning to what we originally had,

which gives you a little bit more in
depth knowledge of what CIPA is.

CIPA is something called
Congenital Insensitivity to Pain.

It's something that I read about in an
article one time when I was in Michigan,

and I was just really
blown away by it.

It's something that I
didn't even know existed.

At first glance you think, "Oh, wow,
that's great they don't feel pain”,

but then you research more into it, and
you realize how dangerous this disease is.

Your entire defense system
is based upon pain telling you,

and alerting you when
there's danger to your body.

So I found that very intriguing.

And I thought it might give an interesting
back story to why in "Malevolence"

Martin doesn't feel pain when he's hit
over the head, or when he's stabbed.

You get a lot of
stories with serial killers

who just are impervious
to pain just because.

At least with this story there is
actual logistical reason for why Martin

seems to be able to endure all
the things that he's put through.

Now in real life CIPA is actually a much
more dangerous condition than we portray.

These kids poke
their own eyes out.

They eat their fingers.

It's really horrific and most of them don't
live past the age of I think 15 or 18.

So if you ever look it up it's extremely
rare, and extremely deadly and very sad.

All this was shot in and around
Pennsylvania in the Allentown area.

It's a place I'm very familiar with
since shooting "Malevolence" there,

and we had a really good time.

The people are fantastic.

It's a great place to shoot, so if
you're a filmmaker watching this

I couldn't possibly
recommend it more highly.

You've got an incredible
diversity of architecture,

and scenery there
within a very small radius.

You can get farmland,
you can get cityscapes,

you can get suburbia all
within a two to three mile radius.

Okay, now we're back.

This was actually the
original opening of the film

before we tagged on
that additional information.

Again, whatever, I
thought it was important.

I do think it's important to know where
you're coming from, and where you're

going especially with all the
intricacies involved with Martin's disease.

And also trying to convey that Sutter is
not kidnapping people in his hometown,

but he's going out of town, sometime
even out of state, which, again,

doesn't get conveyed in the
story, but that's what's happening.

And that's actually inspired
by something that happened.

I grew up in East Meadow.

Well, I moved to East
Meadow, and, actually,

was living right around the corner
from a serial killer named Joel Rifkin.

Nobody knew him and nobody knew
about it, but I had seen him around.

Nobody knew anything about what
was going on, but here was a guy

who had murdered 18 people in his
basement with his mother living upstairs.

And nobody knew
anything about it.

This was a very populated area.

I mean, East Meadow, Long Island, is
a very, very densely populated area.

So for him to get away with that there
I thought it would be a piece of cake

for a guy like Sutter in the middle of
nowhere in this abandoned property

to get away with
whatever he wants.

I understand people who
have watched the film thought

it was kind of unusual that
nobody ever questioned this place.

But if you ever drive through the
Midwest, or drive through some rural towns

where you've got these dilapidated
buildings every quarter mile people just

tend to overlook what might possibly
be going on there and really just not care.

That lack of awareness allows Sutter
to exist in this scenario here,

that his neighbors are basically
oblivious to what's going on.

This is Marissa Guill,
this is her first film.

We discovered her through
a random casting call.

I was just basically having girls come in,
and telling them to give their best scream.

She came in and just
blew the roof off.

I mean, with the moment
she opened her mouth

I realized, wow, she's
special, and she got the part.

It's very important for me as a
filmmaker directing these horror films.

I think sound is even more
important than the visual, especially,

the actor's reactions to what's
happening to them on-screen.

I think you can scare people a lot more
just with audio and just with the realistic

screams that you can get more than even
gore, or stabbings, or anything like that.

Not that there's any lack
of any of that in this film.

This concludes the acting debut of Chase
Pechacek, a brilliant little six-year-old

boy that we found at a random
casting call in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

He just came in and
did a fantastic job.

Okay, so five years later.

This is now 1994 in this
film's time and space.

Here's the Beaver Bus Company, very
good to us, and here's Michael Biehn,

who I was absolutely thrilled
to get on board with this project.

He is someone who I always had
in mind for the role of Jonathan.

Mainly because I felt I needed
somebody with his kind of charisma

and body language on-screen to
kind of pull off some of the surprises,

and the rug pulls
later on in the narrative.

I thought I needed someone like him to make
it believable, and to make it a surprise.

You really think he's going to come
in, and kick ass and do what he does,

so it makes it a lot more shocking when
it doesn't pan out the way you expect.

That's kind of the motif that
runs throughout this film.

Things you expect to happen
don't usually happen.

Your hopes of what's going to become of
these characters is dashed to smithereens.

That was the idea,
and that's horror.

Horror doesn't normally end on a
positive note, and it shouldn't.

When you approach a film with this
kind of subject matter, and you're trying

to introduce verisimilitude to this type of
subject matter, you can't whitewash and

dance around the ending, and make it a
Hollywood ending to satisfy the masses.

You've got to be truthful.

That's the way I felt, and that's why this
film has such a tremendously dark ending.

Not to mention that it dovetails
into the beginning of "Malevolence."

Of course, if it ended positively then you
couldn't really have "Malevolence" exist.

Because someone would
have found this place out,

and Martin wouldn't have been
there for another five, six years.

If you can hear it, this song is
written by someone I'm a huge fan of,

Monica Schroeder.

She's a singer-songwriter from
Toronto, and in my mind just

one of the most beautiful vocalists,
and musicians I've ever heard.

The first time I heard her music
I was just completely blown away.

I've actually featured her
music in my last two films.

This film and "Brutal
Massacre: A Comedy,"

which I highly recommend
picking up if you haven't.

Here's Kathryn Meisle
and Peyton List.

Peyton, who's really
come into her own.

She's just finished filming a movie
called "Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2."

She has a significant
role in that.

Of course, I don't want to
forget Alexandra Daddario

who also is really
coming into her own.

She's just completed "Hall
Pass," and she was the lead in

"Percy Jackson and the
Olympians: The Lightning Thief".

"Bereavement" was
actually filmed long before

either of those movies were made,
long before she got those roles.

I like to hope that her
involvement with my film

was significant in helping
her land those roles.

I know for sure this was her first
full-length feature as a lead actress.

We were just really happy
to have her on board.

She won the part out of about 200 or
300 different people we were considering,

and I just thought she
was by far the best.

She had the physicality to be
able to carry Martin at the end,

and she certainly had the
look, she had the innocence.

She's extraordinarily intelligent,
and very, very intuitive with her acting,

and with interpreting
my direction.

I just couldn't have been
happier working with her.

Any of you who are watching this who are
filmmakers, or are potential filmmakers...

If you're filmmakers you already
know what I'm about to say.

But if you're a potential
filmmaker and if you see a script

that has anything to do with dogs,
mice, cats, rats, or anything like that

just delete them from the script
before you get to production.

That's all I'm going to say.

This place was a closed
down bus stop/diner.

It was completely empty inside,
and we actually had to go in

and populate the entire interior with all
the plates and cups, and napkin holders.

Big shout out to Jack Ryan who did a
fantastic job as art director in this film.

This is Valentina De Angelis.

We found her in a New
York casting call.

Really bright, really fantastic.

She had one of the more
difficult roles in this film.

This rain that you see
here this is real rain.

We're so lucky we back lit it
realizing just how lucky we were

because we weren't able to
get any effects for this scene.

I don't remember the reason,
but it worked out great because

it rained in the scene that
this scene cuts to in the script.

And that was also real rain, and we
back lit it and we used it not knowing

how we would manage to get the
rain in this scene to cut it together.

Again, it's a limited budget,

and through the benevolence of
nature it all worked out really fantastic.

Sutter Meat and
Poultry since 1923.

The actual slaughterhouse where this was
filmed was actually much older than that.

I think it was more turn of the century
around 1905, 1910 that it was established.

This scene was shot
during some pickups.

That's actually Brittany, the makeup
person, in the bag there struggling.

This was part of a
set that was built.

A lot of what you see is real, and
actually from the Ironton slaughterhouse.

But there are a few
sections that were created

just for the movie
this is one of them.

Built with wood that was
delivered from an Amish farm

a few miles away from
where this was shot.

I'm sure if they knew what it was being
used for they would not have approved.

I think you also just saw
a glimpse of Spencer List

who plays 11-year-old Martin,
and another fantastic actor, Spencer.

He was actually I believe nine
years old when we shot this,

and very gifted
and talented kid.

This location was found
pretty much at random.

I actually left a note
on their door saying,

"Hey, we'd like to make a
movie using your house."

"Would that be okay?"
And they called us back.

Here's Carson and Judy there.

Very, very generous to us.

We could not have made the film
without their help, and their patience.

Of course, they wouldn't let me
burn their house down later so we had

to get a scale model to do it, so
that was disappointing, but otherwise.

Look, she's wearing a Walkman.

You don't see too
many of those anymore,

but, of course, this is
period this was 1994.

There were no iPods back
then to all you youngins out there,

didn't come around
'til about was it 2001?

I wanted to juxtapose the
beautiful scenery by the Miller house,

and the ugliness of
the slaughterhouse.

Even the colors as you'll
notice kind of shift in tone

to match the emotion and
the context in the scene.

That was very deliberate...
the good and evil.

Because they are really
two parallel storylines

that are running concurrently
that eventually intersect.

I wanted that color and tone to be a
theme that runs throughout the movie.

I also made a very
conscious effort not to show

any other houses to maintain
that sense of isolation.

In fact, that prior scene where
she comes out of the Miller house

there's actually a house in the
distance that we took out digitally.

And here, too, there were one
or two houses that we painted out,

again, to maintain
that sense of isolation.

I remember this was very difficult
for Spencer... I think for anybody.

The glass that he's apparently cutting his
hand on is made of this spongy material,

but it looks so real.

So it was very difficult for him
to just press his hand very hard

because instinctively you
think you're going to cut yourself.

Obviously, when you're much younger you
tend to trust those instincts even more.

So it was very, very difficult for
him to just slam his hand down there.

So we had to do that
quite a few times.

Here's Nolan Funk
who plays William.

I believe that's Carson who owned
the house we were just talking about.

That's his truck.

He's a trucker, so that was him driving
by, and almost was killing Alexandra.

Of course, we told him to do it.

This scene was actually
very difficult to shoot.

There were guns blazing half the
day so we had to try and find spaces

in between because there's
no way for us to get them to stop.

It's kind of funny we were
joking about it on set.

There's a scene in "Brutal Massacre"
where we lampoon them shooting

next to an actual shooting range, and
here, it actually happened to us for real.

Although there weren't any
bullets whizzing by our head.

Hey, cassette tapes,
I remember those.

I think that's Carson in a
different truck driving the other way,

or, actually, no, I think it
was the next door neighbor.

Everybody in
Pennsylvania owns trucks.

Nolan was unable to
ride a motorcycle.

He was unlicensed, and he had no
experience riding on a motorcycle.

So it's a lot of camera trickery to
make it look like he's actually riding.

I think he did a
really, really good job.

These scenes are always
difficult to edit.

It's always difficult to edit
when you're jumping backwards

and forwards in a
single shot of two people.

And the background is
constantly changing, of course,

we have to do these
over and over again.

So getting it to match is
always very, very difficult.

I'm not sure who was
riding the bike there.

I think that was the nephew of Tom Bambard,
one of the co-producers of the film.

The land surrounding the house
was owned by a different farmer.

Throughout the course of production
we were always faced with the

daunting prospect that he was
going to come in and harvest

all the grain, and ruin our
continuity for the rest of the film.

I do remember us either bribing or begging
for him to postpone it a few weeks.

Of course, if you're a farmer
it can be very detrimental

because there are certain periods
of time when you have to harvest.

I just remembered them being
very, very generous with us,

and giving us that
extra time to finish.

I do know we had to
rearrange some of our schedule

to make sure that we didn't
take advantage of that time.

Those are my feet.

I'm wearing the boots.

I was Sutter for a day.

And this is the first time you really
get a good glimpse of Sutter played

by the incomparable Brett Rickaby, who
was not my original choice to play Sutter.

Again, I'm very, very lucky that
things worked out the way they did.

I couldn't be happier with his
performance, or his enthusiasm.

Just an awesome person to work with, and
we've become very, very good friends.

Originally, it was supposed to be Patrick
Swayze playing the role of Sutter.

But they weren't able to agree on terms
or something, and that didn't work out.

Then we discovered Brett Rickaby,
and I'm very, very glad that we did.

It worked out fantastic.

Originally this scene
was much more brutal.

We shot through the slab wall, and
you could actually witness the murder,

and witness the stabbings,
and see the girl clearly.

But when I edited it together I felt
that it would be much more terrifying

to just imagine what's happening
behind the wall then to see it.

And when I showed both versions to people,
everybody agreed that less is more.

That's always kind
of been my style.

This film is significantly more brutal
than the films I'm used to making

with regards to horror films.

It's certainly a lot more bloody,
and violent than "Malevolence".

But there are some times where
I definitely agree less is more,

leaving it up to the
audience's imagination.

A lot of people have
asked me questions about

how much carnage these kids actually
witnessed when they were making the movie,

and there really
was none at all.

Chase Pechacek, who plays Martin
at six years old in the beginning,

was in the room, but it was basically
a censored view of what he saw.

He heard some of the sounds
which we then asked the actress

just to mime the screams
and we dubbed them in later.

Because he was really more scared
of the noise than anything else.

Spencer, on the other hand loved all the
gory scenes, and wanted to participate.

He was thrilled by the whole
thing, he thought it was fun.

I kind of laugh when people ask me if
the kids were damaged mentally from it.

I remember Spencer
complaining because he didn't

actually get to stab his
sister on-screen, on camera.

Peyton and Spencer, of course, being
brother and sister they're actually twins.

That shot there... that ghostly figure
is, again, it's all in Sutter's mind.

That's supposed to be
the ghost of Sutter's father

who Sutter killed years and years
ago, and keeps upstairs preserved.

This is actually one of my
least liked scenes in the film

not because of the acting.

I think the acting is fantastic.

I think the actors
do a great job.

I hate that last shot
of the slaughterhouse.

As a filmmaker I'd love to be able
to go back, and redo certain things.

And that's something

where I really would have loved to
have a nice jib shot of the truck passing.

Something a little more
cinematic than what we got.

Unfortunately,

that was not something I was able to
improve before the film was released.

Of course, I guess you
could look at every scene,

and think what about what you'd
like to do better, or do different.

But sometimes, well,

most times in independent film you
really don't get too many choices here.

Your back is always
against the wall with time,

and with money, and your
choices are very limited sometimes.

This is a school that was closed down,
and we were able to get access to it.

All these kids go to a neighboring school,
and we kind of borrowed them for the day.

This was on a Saturday when
school was out, of course.

They were all very thrilled to meet
Michael Biehn from "The Terminator."

This is one of my
more favorite scenes.

It shows the multiple
facets to Sutter's personality

where he's kind of crazy one
minute, nice to the kid the next.

These are all telltale
signs of insanity.

You really never know what
you're going to get with this guy,

and that's what makes
him so dangerous.

It also conveys his confusion for his
own purpose in life, and what he's doing.

He's trying to explain
to this 11-year-old kid

what his motivation
is with these murders.

It's the ramblings of a madman,

but to Sutter it makes sense what he's
doing in his own twisted maniacal way.

He really believes that he's
going to somehow find absolution

to his guilt through
this sacrificial murder.

Kind of like an eye for an eye he's going
out, and doing two things basically.

He's sort of getting revenge for all the
sins that he committed against the animals.

In his mind the animals are telling
him to go out and get revenge.

And, also, on a much deeper level
he's trying to prevent his own birth.

The reason why he
mainly goes after women is

he's trying to prevent what happened
to him to happen to another child.

Again, that's deep psychology,

but that is kind of the genesis behind
some of the things that drove him insane.

Even those little things are
kind of nods to cycles of violence,

child abuse, the themes that
are running throughout the film.

My point with this movie was to kind
of show the repercussions of violence,

and how they not just only
affect the person involved,

but their immediate family, and
all the people that know them.

When someone gets hurt, or someone gets
killed it affects a whole circle of people

that are close to that person.

Those bleachers in this
shot really kind of convey

the lameness of where
she's been forced to relocate.

I'm not saying that Allentown
is lame... anything but.

But just the scene and the shot
and the way it's set up really kind of

conveys the isolation that she feels
coming from Chicago to this place.

This scene is kind of like the "Jaws"
scene where the car is like this shark

lurking in the background just
below the surface creeping up.

This was actually a very
difficult scene to shoot, too,

to get the car moving at the right speed,
and to try and align everything perfectly.

It proved to be very difficult
because we're on a moving car.

That's a moving car, she's
walking a certain speed,

and to try and coordinate
everything is very, very difficult.

Nobody really can read each other's
minds, menial actions, so there was

a lot of coordinating involved for
something that seems so very simple.

It truly gives you an idea of
how difficult it is to shoot scenes

with hundreds of extras, and
everything needs to be coordinated,

and the amount of effort that
goes into those types of scenes.

So this scene leads into
meeting Ted, William's father,

for the first time which is played by
John Savage, brilliantly I might add.

Originally there's been
a lot of talk about this film

being over two hours
long, or 2-1/2 hours long.

There was a tremendous
amount that was cut out.

There is a certain
level of truth to that.

There was a tremendous
amount of footage that was cut,

specifically involving the
John Savage character.

It was one of those
things where sometimes

you can go too far with
a secondary storyline.

I think in this case this
that's exactly what happened.

Because John Savage's scenes,
and this whole entire relationship

was actually very, very powerful, and
could almost be its own movie in itself.

What happened was it actually
began to distract from the main storyline,

from Sutter's storyline.

So it was harming
the film as a whole,

so those scenes needed to be
truncated, again, for the good of the film.

It wasn't that the
scenes weren't working.

On the contrary, they
were working too well,

and were just a distraction to
the overall spine of the movie.

Also, it helped with the pacing as
well by eliminating those scenes,

so in the end it was necessary.

Of course, as the writer and the director
it's always difficult to lose scenes

like that especially when they're so
powerful, and they're working so well.

I think they've included those on this DVD,
or Blu-ray, or whatever you're watching.

You might wanna get a chance
to look at some of them.

They weren't all
included on this.

I did hold a lot of stuff back, but some
of the more significant ones are on there.

I remember John didn't really
like to memorize his lines,

so he liked to improvise a lot of things,
which really keeps you on your toes.

Especially, when you're
trying to make the day

trying to capture a
vision of what a scene is.

Sometimes,

if you're rigid you can lose sight of
the fact that happy accidents happen.

And sometimes when you let people just
do their thing that's how magic happens.

That was certainly the case with a
lot of John's stuff what was written

and what he eventually brought to
the table was actually even better.

Sometimes, you got to let go
of what your expectations are,

and just kind of
go with the flow.

I love how that bird just knew
to fly by just at the right time.

That's not digital
that was real.

This is where it sort of first introduces
that line about feelings and fear.

It's almost like a riddle in his mind
that he's wrestling with his whole life.

It's something that he's
trying to truly understand.

He's not just reciting
that to sound cool.

It's really something
that he's struggling with.

Again, it's all
part of the madness.

In his mind Martin is kind of a pure soul,
free of guilt, so he doesn't feel the pain.

He doesn't scream because he doesn't
have that burden of guilt on him.

Again, it perpetuates this myth in Sutter's
brain that what he's doing is right.

He's not causing harm.
He's doing the right thing.

Again, it's very twisted.

What he fails to realize in his error is
that the boy because of his disease,

and because of his lack of
empathy is a dangerous vessel

to be filling with all this
hatred, and all this violence.

Because, of course, it eventually
comes back to destroy Sutter.

In the end Martin is like the ultimate evil
because you can't reason with this kid.

He has no concept or sense of the
fact that what he's doing is wrong,

or what he's doing is causing pain,
what are the repercussions of his actions.

He has no concept of
that, so it makes him a very,

very dangerous person, far
more dangerous than Sutter.

Alexandra is truly
an amazing talent.

I predict great things
for her in the future.

I hope I'm not jinxing
her by saying that,

but I really think that she's going to be
one of the breakout stars of this decade.

Peyton, too. I think Peyton
also has the chance to really,

really breakout and
become a huge superstar.

She's just so smart and
talented, and beautiful.

I think she's really got a
great career ahead of her.

She's such an absolute joy to
work with on set, her and Spencer.

Now if you want to get into the
psychology of why Martin frees her,

but doesn't kill her.

He lets her go because it
would aggravate Sutter.

And that's his main motivation
here to kind of piss him off.

Not because he
cares about this girl,

or cares about what happens
to her because he doesn't.

Of course, the first time you watch
this you have no idea of that, but,

of course, in the end you realize
he had no motivation to help anyone.

By then he was too far gone.

All he knows is violence.

So here is Sutter talking to the bull's
skull, which is not actually there.

It's not really hanging there, I
mean, this is all in Sutter's mind.

It's basically a visual representation of
the demons that have externalized themselves,

and are plaguing him, tormenting him,
and driving him to do what he's doing.

They've twisted his mind.

It's all in his imagination,
but his mind has been twisted

by these externalized forces
that he thinks are eventually

going to provide him with absolution
if he does what they tell him to do.

Again, it comes from being
isolated, and from being alone.

People when put into those
situations will often find things,

or believe that inanimate
objects are talking to them.

A good example is Tom
Hanks in the film "Cast Away",

where the ball externalizes itself
as an actual other human being.

So with Sutter he believes
that those things are real,

and he believes that if
he follows their orders,

and follows their plan for him that
he'll regain some kind of balance.

With every antagonist in any film
there is never any all bad or all good.

Even the bad guy thinks that what
he's doing is the right thing to do.

He thinks he's in the right.

Of course, we as sane people looking
at this through the prism of normalcy

realize how crazy he is, but in
his mind he's doing the right thing.

This set, well, it's not a set,
this is the actual slaughterhouse,

and it's just as creepy in
real life as it looks on film.

We really didn't have to
do much to dress this up.

I mean, all this stuff is there.

All these bins and barrels and machinery,
and lights and hooks and all of it.

Even this chain...
all of this was there.

This is stuff that we
found exploring this place.

What's exciting here is the only
difference between that hook,

and the hook that lifts her up into the air
is there's a small harness attached to it.

Otherwise she is being lifted the
same way that they would hook and

pull the pigs, and move their
carcasses through the slaughterhouse.

They would put them on these wheels,
and they would wheel them along,

and that's exactly
how it looked.

In fact, this entire scene
was inspired by a story

told to us by the owner about
how they would bring the pigs in,

slit their throats, hoist them
up, and then wheel them along.

I thought, "Wow, we've got
to do that to somebody."

Unfortunately, for Valentina De
Angelis this was her first day on set.

You could imagine
she got off the bus,

and came inside and it was like 10 degrees
out, so it's freezing when we shot this.

And for her very first scene
she's hoisted upside down,

and forced to scream and repeat
this scene over and over for 12 hours.

This is all real,
these flames are real.

These are all flame bars
that were right below her.

She's actually hanging with just
this small harness on one leg.

So she can only do it for a few
minutes, or a few seconds at a time.

That's why that scene
is so broken up.

It's a combination of so many different
takes, but she toughed it out.

She was absolutely amazing.

The fact that that's her
first day on set to come in

and pull off a performance
like that I was blown away.

I just couldn't get over how professional
she was, and what a gamer she was.

I know that was a very
uncomfortable day for her.

It would have been for anybody.

I'm so glad we cast somebody
that was so light because I think

the maximum weight allowance
on that thing was about 110 pounds.

I know she's much lighter than
that, but it's a good thing.

So here we are... this is
Sutter's father underneath

the bed sheet for those of you
who haven't figured that out yet.

Sutter always feared his father,

and even in death he still
feels the wrath of his dad.

It's a constant
struggle in his mind.

In a way by committing
the murders that he's doing

he's somehow in his brain
regaining control over his universe.

By inflicting death it gives
him a sense of control.

That's sort of a way to
strike back at his father.

Again, I will reiterate it for those
of you aspiring to a film making career.

Anything that says
"mice, rats, cats, dogs,"

just delete it from the
script before you shoot.

You'll thank me later.

This is Greg Wood, who if you remember,
was one of the stars of "The Sixth Sense."

He played the father of the girl who was
slowly murdered by the mother in the end...

the pivotal scene of act
three with Bruce Willis.

He did the scene in one take.

It's a mouthful... the stuff
that he had to say in the scene,

so it's pretty impressive,
he came prepared.

Very cool guy.

I love the way the sun set when we
shot this it was really perfect timing.

We smoked up
the room a little bit,

but we really got a great look just
from the actual lighting that was there.

This scene was funny
to watch being done.

Ben Semanoff was our Steadicam operator,
and to watch him try to run carrying all

that equipment with him behind Alex up
that hill... and that hill is very uneven.

It was pretty interesting to see
him try and do that, but he did it,

somehow he did it.

He was out of breath,
but he did it.

This sequence was shot
at two different times.

The exterior one was shot earlier,
and then this one was shot on a day

of re-shoots much, much later,
but they cut together pretty nicely.

This scene was actually much
longer in the beginning.

We cut a lot of stuff out
because, well, sometimes,

when you remove
scenes it creates ripples.

So there was a scene where Michael
Biehn talked to Alex about staying away

from the William character, that he
was a bad kid and that sort of thing.

When that was deleted this
conversation eventually evolves

into them talking about she
asks him about what he said.

He tells her why he
thinks he's a bad guy,

and some of the things
that happened around town.

Again, all that is rendered useless and
meaningless once you delete the other scene

because there is no reason to lead into
it because that information isn't there.

That information is actually
repeated again later.

Again, in the end it was just redundant,
and didn't need to be in the film.

This was shot at a drive-in
that's I think still operating.

I'm trying to remember
the name of it.

I think Shankweiler's
Drive-In in Pennsylvania.

Off 378.

I really love the way
these scenes came out.

The lighting by Marco Cappetta,
the cinematographer in this film,

did a really fantastic job
with this moment in this scene.

If I remember correctly Alexandra
and Nolan got along very well on the set,

almost too well, if
you get my meaning.

I'm not insinuating
anything, but I heard rumors.

Which probably explains why they seem
so comfortable here in this scene.

I'm sure all the male crew members
on the set were jealous of Nolan.

The bait-and-switch.

That jacket he's wearing is actually my
jacket that I wore back in high school,

and for some
reason I still have it.

I really like the way this came out,
especially, the way he shouts right here.

He really looks pissed.

I wonder how much
of that was acting.

This scene is interesting
because it's morning right now.

The only reason we were able to pull this
off is cuz we're in a valley right here.

This road is surrounded by
small hills on both sides.

If I was to tilt the camera
up you would see the sunrise.

But because of where this road is
situated it actually bought us about

I would say about 15 to 20
minutes of additional nighttime.

We were just so lucky because
we were looking for a road.

We really literally had
like another hour left,

and we got most of the scene done,
and then the sun started to come up.

And because it's nighttime
you can just keep driving,

the scenery just kind of repeats itself,
but we found this road to turn down.

We didn't know that the road
had hills on both sides.

As we were going down there I
remember the Assistant Director screaming

"The sun's coming up
we're going to have to cut."

Somehow magically we went into this section
of road that was surrounded by hills

on both sides, and we got that extra 15
minutes of darkness to complete the scene.

We kind of just
totally lucked out.

That was an exciting
scene to shoot

just because of all the external
forces working against us.

This is a very controversial
scene in the film.

Again, this victim
is very random.

But in another
incarnation of the script

she's actually had a much
more pivotal role in the film.

Originally she was driving
along, and Melissa got out.

Obviously, she gets killed.

She's the one who gets
the hook through the leg,

and she was killed, but
originally she gets out.

She gets all the
way to the road,

and this woman, Agatha,
drives along and picks her up.

She gets in the car, and they
don't get a quarter of a mile away

when Sutter's truck
smashes into the side of them.

There's this huge car crash, and
he drags her in and chains her up,

and basically tells Martin
"This is all your fault."

But eventually I decided that it was
inappropriate for Sutter to do that.

It would be very out of
character for someone

who keeps such a low profile to cause an
accident right in front of where he lives

just to capture this
person and bring her back.

The motivation was there, but I
just didn't think it was realistic.

Also, this scene evolved into a way
for Sutter to let Martin prove that he's

"worthy to stay.”

To prove that he's on the right
side after letting Melissa go,

or trying to let her get loose.

It's just one of those situations
where what was written in the script

once shot and used it didn't really
reveal itself until we actually saw it.

And I realized that it wasn't really
truthful, and didn't really work.

But we loved the
murder scene of Agatha.

We thought it was actually even
cooler that she's just this random victim,

so that part ended
up staying in the film.

Of course, the dialogue
changed a little bit.

You don't see Sutter what he's actually
saying, but we altered the dialogue

to fit within the concept of Martin
proving that he's a team player.

Now this scene represents
Martin's fear of the bull.

Now the purpose of these guardians is a
psychological trauma on Sutter's part.

What he's doing is basically
using those guardians,

and from a young age made
Martin believe that they were real.

And that they would attack him and
devour him if he tried to escape.

So he used it as sort of
this like psychological trick

to keep Martin
from running away.

In essence that is
the reason why Martin

never leaves because
he's afraid of those things.

And that's what that
dream represents.

But eventually when Martin kills Sutter,
and stays on the property he doesn't

leave is because he's kind of been
indoctrinated into this way of life.

And he doesn't really have anywhere
to go, so he just doesn't leave.

I've mentioned things about the influence
of things like the Helsinki Syndrome

where people are abducted, and
become friends with their captors,

and even when given the
opportunity to leave they choose not to.

There's been several cases
documented of this sort of thing

happening even recently, so
there's the concept behind that idea.

It also kind of explains
the reaction on Martin's face

when he sees
Alex could get over.

This scene kind of mirrors
the scene with Michael Biehn

when he was also explaining to Alex
why she shouldn't hang around with William.

Again, it's kind of redundant
information at this point,

which is another reason
why that scene was cut,

but I think you could
watch that scene.

I think it is
included on the DVD.

This scene was originally cut from the
theatrical release of "Bereavement."

I cut it for time, but I do think it's
an important scene in retrospect

that needed to be included so that
you could understand what was really

going on in Alex's head or
Allison's head at this moment in time.

What's interesting is John Savage,
we contacted him I forget the reason.

It was something
to do with payroll,

but we contacted him about a
year after this film was completed.

He had no conscious
memory of being in the film,

or even being in
Pennsylvania at that time.

So according to him he never
actually was in this movie,

but I have the proof
because here it is.

So John, you were there.

Fantastic as always.

Here's another interesting note.

There are houses that dot the
landscape, and we took them out digitally

if they happened to appear
on camera for the most part.

The reason behind that is the
same reason that when filming "Jaws"

Steven Spielberg didn't want you to
see any of the sailboats in the background.

The idea is to convey a
complete sense of isolation

that there is no one around
to help these people out.

Nobody is coming to the rescue.

Now with this scene in
particular a lot of people wondered

why she would go into this
slaughterhouse after this kid.

My answer to that is, well, absolutely,
cuz teenagers always do the right thing,

and teenagers never do anything
that puts themselves in danger.

I'm being sarcastic, but
in essence that's true.

The right thing to do here would
be to go back, and call the police,

but, again, that kind of would
bring the movie to a screeching halt.

Or she can go back
and talk to Jonathan,

but right now they're
not talking to each other.

So for me truly the only thing to do would
be to go in and investigate yourself.

And throughout the entire movie
she has been very interested

in whether or not she was
right about this kid being there.

So kids and their curiosity...
one thing leads to another.

Now in all fairness in the original
script she doesn't go in as deeply

as she does here.

She goes in just
partial of the way,

and she does get scared, and
the floor below her collapses.

She gets trapped, and she's now forced
to try and find her way out in there,

and eventually finds Martin.

So it wasn't just her going
and searching for him,

but we had issues
shooting that scene.

There were some issues with danger because
we wanted to do it on this location.

We didn't want to do it off set.

I remember it posed a
number of logistical problems,

safety problems which I wasn't
willing to put my actors in danger.

So we came up
with an alternative,

and that was to have the
boy basically lead her down.

In the end I actually prefer this scenario
better because I think it does bring

out this sort of motherly instinct in
her in that she wants to help this kid.

And once she goes in halfway she realizes
she's come this far she might as well

go the rest of the way, and find out
if there's a way she can help this kid.

So it's her being a good person, and look
at the thanks she gets a knife in the gut.

This scene is comprised of sections
that were shot in multiple locations.

I think there's a total of one,
two, three, three different locations

that make up the entirety of her
walk through Sutter's catacombs here.

Right here she's on a
sound stage that we built.

And now that she's walked through this door
this is the real slaughterhouse in Ironton.

Again, another great job by Jack
Ryan designing Sutter's lair in here.

The really cool thing is most of
this stuff existed on location.

We just collected what we
needed and utilized it which

I think is really cool because
it gives it a realistic look.

Everything feels old
and rusty and sharp.

And when you watch this movie
I think one of the great aspects

of the production design that
they were able to achieve was just

utilizing all these practical
things that were available to us.

When you're watching certain horror films
you can tell when something's manufactured.

It really stands out when
something is kind of created

for the scene instead of putting
these people into these real life sets.

To me that's always
more interesting.

I don't know how other people feel,
but for me it makes a big difference

because intuitively I know
when I'm being sold on a fake set.

It really stands out.

Even these photographs were things that
we found in the rubble of this place.

This section that she's walking into
here is an underground section of a barn

at the slaughterhouse where
they used to house the animals,

and feed them before
they were slaughtered.

It's really just one of the
nastiest places on earth.

When we first went in there there
were dead animals everywhere,

not pigs or anything, but foxes
and squirrels, and animals that had

found their way in, and couldn't
find their way out and just died.

There were spiders the
size of your right hand.

It's pretty creepy.

Very, very difficult
conditions to shoot under.

Really gross, but it
looks effective on film.

That's the real deal.

This entire section was part of
some second unit that we did.

The cinematography here was done
by someone named Brendan Flynt

who was my cinematographer
on "Brutal Massacre.”

Also, a very, very
talented cinematographer.

I remember this scene, we were all
very, very tired while shooting this.

This is like literally
five in the morning.

We had been going
for at least 20 hours,

22 hours, and we had done
the same the night before.

Everybody looks pretty haggard, but
I think kind of works for the scene.

Another note because these
were re-shoots some things

the continuity wasn't clear cut as
Spencer's hair was actually blonde,

and we had to dye it
back to its original color.

That's why it looks a little
strange there in that scene.

Here, Michael Biehn is actually upset
because he was late for dinner reservations

that he had made for
this night after the shoot.

That's why he looks
all pissed off.

I'm just kidding.

Here's a scene where
we used real rats.

It was a challenge to get them
to do what we wanted them to do.

It turns out that there was a
place right around the corner

from where we shot in Allentown that
raises rats in this 100-year-old building.

They took us down a few flights of stairs
into the basement and they opened the door.

And there's literally tens of
thousands of rats in these tubs

and tubes, and boxes, I
guess they're raising them.

I don't remember what exactly
they were raising them for.

I guess to sell them for whatever,
but it was pretty shocking to see all that,

and the smell was
pretty shocking, too.

Anyway, the rat became the pet of one of
the crew, and I think is still doing well.

I get pictures of it every
now and then in my inbox.

This scene here is something
else that was slightly altered

because of scenes
prior that were changed.

Originally Allison and William
have a fight right before she

gets abducted by Sutter, and
that dovetailed into this scene.

But because that was deleted this
scene kind of changed a little bit.

Now this is where it really
kind of kicks into high gear.

Of course, watching this film for the first
time you think, okay, well, Michael Biehn,

is going to go now, and kick some ass, and
this movie is about to end pretty quickly.

I think one of the great things
about casting someone like Michael

is that that's exactly
what you're expecting.

So when he gets dispatched the way
he does it's kind of a big shock.

In most of the screenings
that I attended watching this film

with an audience we got the
biggest gasp during that moment

because it's not something
that anybody was expecting.

It was a lot of fun.

What also is kind of cool... well,
it wasn't cool at the time.

When we shot the scene where Michael
Biehn gets blown away with the shotgun

we found out that the special effects
person had only brought one squib,

so we only had one
chance to get it right.

It was a pretty big production to
get all that set up correctly to work,

so to only have one chance to get
it right was was pretty frightening.

Fortunately, I was working
with some terrific people,

and we got it
right the first time.

In fact, all of this was shot on Steadicam
in one take because the sun was going down.

Again, so many factors
working against you.

In an independent film you don't get to
come back, and do it again the next day.

You've got one shot and
that's it for the most part.

We ran through as quickly
as we could to get the shots

we needed of him
approaching the house.

Then we literally had to run
upstairs, and get everything set.

We had two cameras
doing the gun shot.

When you watch the scene you'll
see it cuts to a wide angle.

I had to get up onto the second floor of
the slaughterhouse to monitor that camera.

We had the A camera on the
first floor doing the closeup of it,

which is this shot right here, and
everything had to be synchronized.

We literally had minutes to turn it
around, and, man, that was stressful.

And this was literally almost
like doing live television.

We had run out of light by then so the
light you see there is not actual sunlight.

That's something that we rigged
to look like sunlight to replicate it,

but we were in the
dark at this point.

So this section coming up where
he tosses her in the freezer.

In this location there are
several gigantic freezers.

But they weren't situated
where I wanted them to be,

so, actually, we
built something.

We built the housing for the
freezer, but the door itself is taken

from one of the actual freezer
doors from the Ironton slaughterhouse.

So that door is real.

Everything else is
manufactured here.

A funny note with this scene.

We shot this several times, and, obviously,
it's a very difficult scene to shoot.

There's a lot of physicality
to the acting here,

so to do it over and over is very
stressful for the actors and for us.

But we noticed during
the first couple of takes

that we could see
ourselves in the glass.

We didn't notice that until
we watched it played back.

We were kind of in
the middle of the action,

and didn't really realize
until like the fourth take.

It was very difficult to go
down there after so many very,

very fantastic takes to tell them
they had to go and start all over again.

The person you saw on the bike in the
wide shots was someone named Joseph Boyko

who lived just down the
road from the slaughterhouse.

He just happened to come
along with his wife, Chrissy.

They turned out to be an
incredible help in helping us

with specific things that
we needed during the shoot.

Not just doing stunt
riding on the motorcycle,

but also wrangling cars for us
during some of the opening sequences.

Even down to things like
catering they really helped out.

Also, to make it look like a freezer the
original plan was to pump in cold air.

The mechanism to be able to do
that was extraordinarily expensive.

Fortunately, for us it happened
to be an extraordinarily cold night

that night so you could
see her breath anyway.

Now you could put that
in digitally that's true,

but it always looks better when
it's real, and for other reasons, too.

I'm sure all the 14-year-old boys
in the audience are very glad that

it was very cold that night for obvious
reasons, but we won't get into that.

Now what's also interesting, too, is a lot
of people ask why would he go down there?

He did see Jonathan's truck.

He knows that Jonathan
was looking for Allison.

Obviously, he's very curious
as to why he ended up there.

You'll find in rural areas people
are not as squeamish as city folk.

They'll go into
all sorts of unlit,

dark and spider infested areas
with not a care in the world.

When you're from
an area like that

you don't really think
twice about those things.

I think it's a different
type of mentality,

and I think he would have
gone in there looking for her.

I love the look on Martin's
face, Spencer's face there.

Really fantastic.

You know it's very difficult to
convey emotion with no words,

but with just body language,
especially, for a nine-year-old.

I think it's really a testament to
his acting ability to be able to convey

those accurate emotions without anything
other than just a facial expression.

I think he did a fantastic job.

I thought he looks kind of like the kid
from "The Omen" in that last sequence.

Very creepy.

Now this scene initially the way it's
written Sutter doesn't kill William here.

He actually knocks him out, and then he
kills him later on, he actually hangs him.

But I thought it was going to be
a lot more effective to have him

kill William right in front of
her as she watches helplessly.

And it's kind of indicative of how we
feel as an audience watching this scene.

Although I think our effects person got
a little over zealous with blood there.

You can never have
too much blood.

I think Nolan plays
dead very well here.

You really believe that he's
deceased the way the arm flips.

It's very convincing.

So she's having a very bad day.

Now this is kind of like the
darknet of the soul for Sutter.

What they're telling
him is that he's got to go,

and kill the rest of the family,
otherwise, he'll be found out.

And he's fighting it because he doesn't
want to go along with it anymore.

This is kind of like a turning
point for him, and his character

where he stars to rebel against
what they're ordering him to do.

Essentially they
eventually say to him, well,

if you don't do it we'll
find someone who will.

And that's how the conversation leads
into talking about Martin downstairs.

What's interesting about this scene is
you're getting a glimpse into his humanity.

He's not just a monster,
he's kind of a victim too.

Again, just to reiterate
the bull is following him.

It's not actually on the
wall, it's all in his brain.

Obviously, when
you see him smash it,

and it's back up on the wall
you realize that as an audience.

It gives you a glimpse into the
fact that he was also victimized.

And therein lies the connection of
this cycle of violence demonstrating

that it's kind of handed down
from generation to generation,

and what was perpetuated on
him he's now perpetuating on a boy.

There are several themes similar to
that that run throughout the film.

Another one is this
sense of being trapped.

If you really break it down
everybody in the film is trapped.

Sutter is trapped by his demons.

Martin is trapped by Sutter.

Allison is trapped because
she's forced to come

and live at this isolated location
because her parents are dead.

Ted, William's father is trapped
by being in a wheelchair.

And William is trapped because he's
forced to take care of Ted, his father.

Even the conversation at the
drive-in where Allison's character talks

about her grandmother who's
agoraphobic and can't leave the house..

Even her grandmother is trapped, so that
theme kind of recurs throughout the movie.

Sutter is now realizing
that what he thought

was a way out maybe
isn't necessarily the way out.

He's confused now,

which leads into his epiphany at
the end when he's at the Miller house.

So essentially Sutter was redeemable
in some way, whereas, Martin's character

as you'll learn if you eventually see
all three stories is not redeemable.

There's no saving
him, or is there?

I guess you'll have
to tune in and see.

That's a creepy shot.

This is my favorite
scene in the movie

because it kind of demonstrates
how Sutter also never really grew up.

He's still kind of a child
trapped in a man's body.

I also love this scene not
just for Rickaby's performance,

but for Spencer's
performance, too.

Even though he's just sitting
in a chair staring into space.

Anyone who's worked with children
knows that these types of scenes

can be very, very difficult.

In this moment when he stabs
Martin's hand he realizes in a way

what he's done to this kid and
that he's created this monster.

And for the first time
he actually fears Martin.

There's a sequence
that was omitted

where after this he goes in and
writes in his journal for the last time.

He talks about how he knows Martin
is going to kill him tonight.

It's actually the piece that was
read by the FBI detective in the end,

but it was omitted for time.

I don't know if I would have
been able to make this film

had it not been for the
disease that Martin suffers from.

To inflict that kind of damage on a child,
and to have to watch his pain reaction

I think would have been too much
for any audience to suffer through.

I know it would have been just too
difficult to shoot a film like that.

I think in a way his lack of
reaction is the only reason

why we're able to get through
those horrific moments in this movie.

For me anyway, I know I
couldn't do it any other way.

I was wrestling with the idea
of how to create a way for her

to escape from being
locked in the freezer.

And it turns out that the
metal rod that she uses here

to jimmy the lock is something that
was actually devised by the people

who created this freezer for
the Ironton slaughterhouse.

In case someone
accidentally did,

and had the door close behind them it
was a way to basically jimmy the lock open,

and free themselves if
something like that happened.

We, of course, incorporated it into
the scene, and we needed that anyway

because we needed a way for
her to escape, so it worked out.

Now all of these locations are in
different places, so here we're on the set.

Prior to that we're
on a different set,

and in the very next shot
we're on a different set.

When she gets to the stairs we're actually
on the live set of the slaughterhouse.

That was a combination of four different
locations just to make that one small run.

Of course, here she still doesn't realize
that Martin is pure evil so she goes

to rescue him in hopes of bringing him
home, and reuniting him with his family.

As we all know
that was a mistake.

Unless, of course, you're
watching the commentary first

before you watch
the actual movie.

In that respect then I
apologize for all the spoilers.

So this is the big
epiphany for Martin

realizing that these guardian demons are
not real, and they're not going to eat him.

I think, also...

Well, I know, because I wrote it, that
is the reason why Martin comes back,

and has the ability to
take Sutter on and kill him.

Because the threat of retaliation
from the beasts are gone,

and, also, in retaliation
for all the lives.

It's the culmination of all
that and all that anger.

Big props to Alex, too, for being
able to carry Martin all that way.

We shot over the course
of an entire night.

There was a good 20 or 30 takes

where she's carrying him over the
hills and down the road and it was raining.

Just an incredible amount
of stamina that she showed,

and toughing it out and getting
through those scenes is just amazing.

This was actually a
very fun scene to shoot.

Brett and Kathryn were
true professionals.

It seemed like they had
been doing this their whole life

like they were professional
wrestlers or something.

They knew exactly what
they needed to do to stay safe

and make the scene look believable,
and really made my job very easy.

To those of you who are fans of
gore that scene was actually much,

much nastier when
we first cut it together.

I just felt it was
just too nasty.

It was very mean-spirited.

I think it's somehow more
effective to see the reaction

on Wendy's face than it is to see
the physical murder of the mom.

I don't know it's
just my opinion,

and since I'm the director I
get to make those decisions.

We couldn't actually
burn down the house.

All the scenes with the flames are
on an external set that we shot.

In another completely different
location out in the woods where we built

basically half a set, a hollow set
and then burned it to the ground.

Those are always fun.

I like the cow in
the corner there.

Some fun by the art department.

This scene of him walking up the
stairs took about three hours to shoot.

Just that shot... because
dogs don't like to cooperate.

Well, they do until you shout "action”,
and then they do something else.

They do whatever they want.

So just don't shout "action".

Just run the camera and the
dog will do whatever you want.

Don't make the mistake that I
made in trusting that dog to do

what he's supposed to do and to
hit his marks because dogs don't.

And they waste film and time,
and they try your patience.

If it was me I wouldn't
have let the dog go.

So here's the epiphany
where he realizes

that everything he's done up
to this point has been wrong.

I mean, he's been questioning himself
for a while now, but something she said,

obviously, "don't hurt my animals”
snapped a spring in his brain.

It's all coming full circle.

He's realizing the
error that he's made.

It culminates in
him being stabbed,

and realizing the pain is
real, and shattering his illusion.

If you listen to
some of the dialogue

I kind of infer a lot of the things
that I've discussed on this audio,

some of the more psychological
aspects to his motivations.

They're not necessarily
readily apparent

when you watch it the first
time and listen to the dialogue.

It might just seem
like rambling,

but there is specific intent with each
line for those who care to investigate,

and really pay attention.

It's a very tragic finale.

I think because the film
allows you to breathe,

and get to know
these characters...

you feel it much more when
you've gotten to know these people,

and care about these people.

So it's an earth
shattering moment for him.

I love that fall by Brett... the perfect
placement of the hand with the blood.

It's just one of those
magical movie moments.

In a way when Martin
stabs her and kills her

you initially watch
it it's very shocking.

"How dare he do that when
she tried to help him."

But in the end it's the only
way the film could have ended.

Retrospectively when you watch
the entire film back again you realize

that there was only one way for
this thing to go, and that was badly.

Realizing all the things that
this kid's been exposed to.

So now you realize here
that he is nothing but pure evil,

worse than Sutter, really
worse that anybody out there.

Not only is he completely deranged,
and not only does he not know

the difference between right and
wrong, but he's also impervious to pain.

He can't empathize with your pain because
he doesn't know what it feels like.

So in a way he's truly the most
dangerous of all the serial killers

who have ever gone before him,
and that includes Jason and Myers.

Those guys were untrained
and undisciplined.

Martin represents that more younger, and
sophisticated breed of mass murderer.

See how he walks
without making a sound.

That's a key characteristic for any
killer who wants to have success.

You can't let them
know you're coming.

And the scale model...

Fantastic job by Jeff Cox who created a
magic potion that burns in a certain way

that you can shoot it
in a certain frame rate,

and make it look like real fire and real
flame using a very, very small model.

Normally you'd have to use a
model that's like half the scale,

or quarter of the scale.

This was like 1/10th
or less of scale,

which is pretty revolutionary,
at least that's what he told me.

Rickaby was actually suffering
from stomach cramps from something

he ate at the craft services that
night, so he's not really acting here.

He's actually doubled over in anguish
and pain, so this is all real right here.

Well, except for that.

This is me.

I'm shooting this.

This is why they call
me Unsteadicam Steve.

That's real rats up here on this 2nd floor
of this house, which is over 200 years old.

It's teeming with mice and rats,

so you have to tuck your pants
into your socks when you're up there.

All the very realistic effects here of
Sutter's dismemberment were done by Toetag

who are known for creating some
pretty outrageous blood and gore effects.

They did a really fantastic
job here... almost too good.

Originally this scene was not as
graphic, but I felt that it needed to be

because you really want to feel like
Sutter got what was coming to him.

I thought the only way to do that
was to really just take him apart.

Spencer was thrilled that he got to
come in, and participate in this sequence

since he didn't get to
kill his sister on-screen.

He had the most fun
when blood was spurting.

He's a really cool kid.

So that's a picture of what should
be Sutter as a boy and his dad.

And in that picture the person
who is the stand-in for Sutter's dad

is actually Joseph Boyko, the
guy who lived down the street.

So, see that. You never know how
things are going to turn out.

So there's Riley in his cameo
appearance for this film.

Of course, everybody who has seen
"Malevolence" knows who he is.

Riley is, of course,
played by John Ingram.

And the dog lives so,
see, it is a happy ending.

Okay, so this scene with
John Savage has survived.

Initially,

this scene has a very different impact
because John's character is kind of a jerk.

By this point you kind of feel like he got
what's coming to him by being left alone...

he got what he deserved.

But in this scene the way the story
ended up you feel very sorry for him.

I actually like the way that plays
out because it kind of goes along

with what I've been saying how the point
of the exercise here was to show how this

kind of violence affects not just the
victim, but the people who knew the victim.

The people who
counted on the victim.

Who's going to take
care of him now?

So it's a much different impact,
which I actually think is pretty cool.

So here Martin is hammering
up Sutter's bones to the wall.

Anyone who's seen
"Malevolence" and wondered how,

or what this bull skeleton
was... these are Sutter's bones.

This is kind of like Martin thumbing his
nose at Sutter for all the years of torture

and torment that he put him through
thinking that the bull guards were real.

It's kind of his way of flipping him the
bird, and getting back at him for all that.

It also serves as a warning to anyone
who trespasses and what their fate will be.

To be continued,
or to be concluded.

Well, if you made it this
far... congratulations!

Thank you very much for
spending some time with me,

and thank you very much for watching
"Bereavement," and giving it a shot.

I really appreciate it.

Tremendous, tremendous amount of hard
work went into creating this film,

A big round of applause to all the
people on this list in these credits

who worked very, very hard
to make this film a reality.

I hope you all join us
for the third chapter.

Subtitles: Christopher Coco
(c) 2020 Turbine Medien GmbH